During the course of hospitalization patients often require the use of support equipment to aid in their recovery. For example, during a surgical procedure, it is frequently desirable to have a system for holding elongated surgical equipment such as vacuum tubes, other tubing, wires, cords, sponges, clamps, suction tips and ring instruments in position close to a patient. The tubing which connects the patient to the equipment, such as oxygen, anesthesia, intravenous fluids or monitoring equipment can create a hazard for the patient and hospital personnel if allowed to dangle freely across the floor. In the interest of safety, various devices have been developed to organize the tubing.
Numerous innovations have been provided in prior art that are adapted to an enveloping assembly and method for securing medical wiring, cords and tubes. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific purposes to which they address, however, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,074,397 to Rosin discloses a disposable device is provided for securing cords and tubes extending to or from the patient may be conveniently fastened, wherein the device comprises a thin flexible pad having a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer on one side.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,806 to Eldridge, Jr. discloses a medical tube holder comprising a backing strip having tube receiving locations and magnetic materials to hold medical tubing which is often employed in surgical operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,980 to Peterson discloses a tubing organizer for hospital use having Velcro straps, a Teflon loop and a stainless steel clip connected by stainless steel eyelets.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,032 to Lewis discloses a wire and cable organizing sleeve for individually ordering a plurality of specified wires or cables of differing gauges and lengths to be secured between two spatially separated adjacent pairs of elongated strips.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,103 to Martin et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,899 to Thompson disclose a surgical drape comprising provisions to hold tubing, cords and the like that are employed during surgical operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,111 to Corbitt, Jr. et al. discloses a disposable surgical instrument holder for holding a number of surgical instruments, tubes and cords.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,025 to Charles et al. discloses a self-contained surgical tubing management system to incorporate surgical hand piece(s) and power and fluid tubing, cables and connections in pockets formed within a single disposable package. Further the tubing management system includes a sterile sheet or substrate that may cover either all or only a portion of the patient's body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,787 to Howell discloses a flexible cable holder comprising a flexible web with a plurality of edge fasteners forming an enclosed duct for retaining cables, wires and power cords.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,403 to Jaquith discloses a management system for flexible lines, such as tubes and cables, used in the medical treatment of a patient includes a flexible expanse of material and a plurality of separate connectors mounted at different positions on the material. The connectors are separately operable for attaching and detaching respective lines independently of the attachment and detachment of other lines.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,665 to Vergano et al. discloses a disposable device and method for holding a plurality of medical conduits comprising an elongated foam strip having adhesive on a first surface of the strip. A clip is provide at the first end for releasably attaching the device to a bed sheet, blanket or patient's clothing, and the second end is folded over toward the first end with the conduits secured between the layers by the adhesive layer which substantially surrounds the circumference of each conduit to hold the same without allowing the conduits to be twisted or pulled through the holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,453 to Herrera discloses a pouch for organizing and suspending cables off of a hospital floor. The pouch comprises an envelope-like formation to enclose a plurality of cables.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,315,759 to Peterson discloses a protective cover comprising generally cylindrical hollow tube composed of a flexible, resilient material such as closed-cell foam, enabling the tube to be placed around and over the elongated member such as a plurality of intravenous lines, baby crib rails, bicycle frame sections, handles and other items.
It is apparent now that numerous innovations for an enveloping assembly and method for securing medical wiring, cords, and tubes have been developed in the prior art that are adequate for various purposes. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific purposes to which they address, accordingly, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described. Thus an enveloping assembly and method for sterilized and static resistant ordering of medical wiring and tubes that organizes electrical wires, cords, and tubes while maintaining a sterile environment for the electrical wires, tubes, and cords and preventing static electricity discharge from the electrical wiring is needed. Further often there is a need to be able to temporarily anchor such elongated surgical equipment. After being deposited, the elongated equipment must be easily retrievable for further use during the particular operation.